Double Feature

A Clockwork Orange

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

A Clockwork Orange

Kubrick followed 2001 with this uncanny vision of ultra-violence, A Clockwork Orange, setting the bar for psychotronic storytelling with the unforgettable musical sequences, milk-and-phallus-soaked sexual imagery and dystopian themes. Centered on the charismatic lead performance of Malcolm McDowell as the droog-leader-rapist-Beethoven-superfan Alex DeLarge, the film follows his kaleidoscopic trajectory from perpetrator to victim, explicated wonderfully by Kubrick’s unrivaled sense of irony. The film’s release generated unprecedented controversy and drew condemnations and calls for violence. In an unprecedented display of power, the director himself pulled the film from British screens and kept it off for years.

“So be warned. Kubrick never plays it safe. A Clockwork Orange is a mind shattering experience with its exaggerated violence and outrageous vulgarity.” – New York Daily News

“A Clockwork Orange is a brilliant nightmare. Stanley Kubrick’s latest film takes the heavy realities of the ‘do-your-thing’ and ‘law-and-order’ syndromes, runs them through a cinematic centrifuge, and spews forth the commingled comic horrors of a regulated society. Uncomfortably proximate, disturbingly plausible and obliquely resolved, the film employs outrageous vulgarity, stark brutality and some sophisticated comedy to make an opaque argument for the preservation of respect for man’s free will – even to do wrong.” – A.D. Murphy, Variety

View a collection of Italian lobby cards for A Clockwork Orange on the New Beverly forum.

Read the Films and Filming cover story about A Clockwork Orange on the New Beverly blog.

Witney Seibold discusses the humor of A Clockwork Orange for the New Beverly blog.

Kim Morgan discusses Anthony Burgess and A Clockwork Orange on the New Beverly blog.

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

The definitive Kubrick documentary, A Life In Pictures puts the director’s life into rich focus, delving into his career and idiosyncratic personality. Made by his longtime assistant Jan Harlan, this tribute features interviews with collaborators Jack Nicholson, Malcolm McDowell, Arthur C. Clarke, Wendy Carlos, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, plus director-admirers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Alex Cox. It also prominently features his longtime wife Christiane, rare home movies from his youth, unseen behind-the-scenes footage and other archival treasures. Narrated by Cruise, this fair and loving portrait is a must-see for all Kubrick fans and is a fitting companion piece to his essential filmography.